


The Past Never Dies

by McReap-me-now-76 (SkordeSoldat)



Series: Unexpected Benefits [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Basically at the "present" time period, Getting Back Together, Healthy Polyamory, Hurt Jesse McCree, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Talon is coming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:08:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28134441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkordeSoldat/pseuds/McReap-me-now-76
Summary: This chapter was written in May and sorta left because I wasn't feeling it and depressed (Covid has done a number on me). It's a little rough, but I've been wanting to write in this series again and decided to just work on this a little more and post it. This takes place after the part 2 with a time jump forward (probably will work on filling in the gap between part 2 and 3 with some smaller stuff). But Reaper and 76 are on amissionto get their Jesse back, but Talon wants the Cowboy too (forreasons). Sombra's been the puppet master and working on getting them back together and it's finally paying off.I really hope everyone that's been waiting enjoys this chapter. I know it's been some time, sorry for the wait, but here we are. Get ready for some old men having feels, the three of them dealing with their pasts during the jump, and a New Overwatch starting to try and help the world again.... It's gonna be a trip.
Relationships: Jesse McCree/Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Jesse McCree/Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Jesse McCree/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Series: Unexpected Benefits [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1317170
Comments: 14
Kudos: 22





	1. A Stop at Calaveras

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was written in May and sorta left because I wasn't feeling it and depressed (Covid has done a number on me). It's a little rough, but I've been wanting to write in this series again and decided to just work on this a little more and post it. This takes place after the part 2 with a time jump forward (probably will work on filling in the gap between part 2 and 3 with some smaller stuff). But Reaper and 76 are on a _mission_ to get their Jesse back, but Talon wants the Cowboy too (for _reasons_ ). Sombra's been the puppet master and working on getting them back together and it's finally paying off.
> 
> I really hope everyone that's been waiting enjoys this chapter. I know it's been some time, sorry for the wait, but here we are. Get ready for some old men having feels, the three of them dealing with their pasts during the jump, and a New Overwatch starting to try and help the world again.... It's gonna be a trip.

“I’m here. What do ya want?” He looked at the woman out of the corner of his eye, watching as she tapped her nails on her glass. Looking back at himself in the mirror behind the bar, he shook his head and put the glass to his lips, tipping it back and draining it in a gulp.

“Let me get _a_ drink before you try to leave.” She slumped down on the bar, watching her fruity drink get mixed. “It took me long enough to find you right under my nose. Didn’t think _you_ were that good at hiding.”

“Ever stop an' think that maybe," he paused to motion the bartender over, "I didn’ _want_ to be found, Sombra?”

“It’s been _years_ since Overwatch went up in smoke. Figured you’d be ready for a talk about them by now.” She looked him up and down. He'd let his hair grow out. It was messily trimmed, the edges were choppy and uneven, most likely done by himself in a mirror with some scissors. His beard wasn't nearly as sharply defined as she'd seen it before. The only clean thing on him was his prosthetic. It was still shiny and bright. It looked brand new while the rest of him looked like it was covered in a thin sheen of sand and depression.

Shaking his head, he tapped his glass, watching the barkeep fill it, nodding for a little more. “ _Maybe_ , I still don’t wanna talk about losing them either.”

Rolling her eyes, Sombra shed the thin coat she'd been wearing. “They _aren’t_ dead, McCree. I've been trying to—”

Jesse slammed his glass down on the bartop, interrupting her and making her jump. “They were the best damn thing I had! If they were alive, they’d be here with me, Sombra! But they aren't!” He took a drink, not wanting to voice his next thought, but that filter had been washed away with the tequila. “So, if they're alive, maybe… maybe they don’t want me anymore.” 

He reached into his shirt and pulled out the chain with his wedding ring and dog tag, staring at them. These were the last things he'd had from their time together. He shot a man in California that had tried to pickpocket the ring off him. After that, he hung it on the chain to keep it close to his heart and safe.

He still can’t go back there. That cheap motel along the train tracks had damn good food too.

“You’ve been too sad to look at the big, flashing, neon signs, _cabrón_.” She snapped and summoned a data cube, expanding the information in it out between them. "Y'know, I never thought being around someone this heartsick would make _me_ heartsick. No wonder they've been chasing you down." She tapped on a holo-file, making it blow up in size. "Now, read this."

Looking at the holo-image, he read the headline: _Helix Security Break-in; Third this month._ Skimming the article under it, he saw: _Helix says_ signs of the terrorist known as Reaper were present. He was seemingly accompanied by the wanted Mercenary, Soldier: 76.

He looked at Sombra and shrugged, "Reaper? Soldier: 76?"

Mumbling under her breath, she rolled her eyes, "¡Ay, Dios mío!" She scrolled down to the attached photo from the security footage. A man with a familiar broad build and too-big rifle stood beside a man dressed in all black with an owl-like mask and cape he'd seen before. They were both looking directly at the camera. The one he would guess was Reaper had a shotgun aimed at it.

He reached through the image and grabbed Sombra's wrist frantically, squeezing hard. "So… that's them?"

" _Yes_."

"When, no, _where_ was that? I need ta find 'em."

"Arizona."

"I just fuckin' _left_ Arizona. I can't go back now."

Sighing, Sombra pulled her hand out of his and pushed Jesse's back towards him so it would stop disrupting the image. "Look at the date, McCree."

"That was… that was last week. A day after I left."

Nodding, Sombra moved that article away and pulled another small data file into Jesse's now tunneling vision. Tapping it, the little square expanded into another news article. "Here's another break-in where they're just days behind you in California a month ago. It's _almost like…_ "

"They're followin' me." Jesse just stared at the image in this article. It was an image of Soldier's back. The man had a blue leather jacket on with a large red 76 covering his back. He appeared to be chasing after someone down a hall. "Where are they at now? How do they know where I've been?"

"Right now, they're on their way here." She looked over at him, "Whenever I can find you, I tell them where you are." Sombra sipped her drink, nose wrinkling at the melting ice. "If you didn't shoot every burner when I messaged you, you'd know that."

"I didn't want to be found. Been fine on my own."

Sombra looked him up and down. " _This_ is _fine_? You're a heartbroken cowboy running away from everything and everyone." She took another sip. "Sometimes it's good to stop and smell the roses."

"Fuck. You." He gripped his glass harder, glaring at her.

"Ever the charmer, aren't you, _Vaquero_? If you want to see them, don't leave for once. They're on their way." She looked at the barkeep and curled her finger with its long nail for him to come closer. "Do you have any rooms for a few nights?" He nodded, but before he could get a word out Sombra started speaking, words flowing fast, "Good. Two nights and his tab. Keep anything extra." Sombra handed him a card and watched as he checked it, his eyes going wide before reaching under the bar. He laid an old fashioned skeleton key with a keyring and tag on the bar between them.

Pointing over his shoulder with a thumb, his voice was deep and gravelly, "Room's down the hall. At the end. I'll get you anything else you need."

Nodding, Jesse grabbed the key, gripping it like his life depended on it. Lifting his glass, he said, "Can I get a bottle of this? You can charge her for it." He reached out and took the bottle from the man with a wink. "Thank ya, kindly." He looked over at Sombra. "C'mon, we can talk in the room."

She finished her drink, shaking her head through the tail end burn of the alcohol. "I have to go visit a few _friends_." Sombra stood, putting on her coat and zipping it up. "Take this. Reaper will know what to do with it." Walking by Jesse, she placed what looked like an older model comm on the bar beside his hand. "You made this way too hard, for way too long, Jesse McCree. Don’t make me regret helping the three of you."

He grinned and nodded, his metal hand sliding over and covering hers. "I'm damn ready. Been waitin' too long for 'em."

Slipping her hand out from under his, she bent over and gave Jesse a quick peck on the cheek, her purple lipstick leaving a faint mark. Whispering in his ear, she said, "You owe me one." Walking towards the saloon doors, Sombra stepped through and turned to wave at him before vanishing in a cloud of purple-hued static.

******

Sitting in the room by himself, Jesse had been slowly nursing the now nearly empty bottle.

The room's screen was on, but he didn't know what he'd been watching on it.

He just kept thinking back, over the hazy years after he'd lost his husbands and everything had gone to hell.

He'd become a wanted man with a hefty bounty on his head after all his bar fights and odd jobs. Anytime he stayed somewhere too long, people started asking questions.

And he didn't quite like questions.

All he wanted to do was drink, smoke a good cigar, and miss the men he loved in peace. Granted, the peace never lasted long though. Deadlock had been looking for him too, Ashe wanted him to 'come back home', but the Gang wasn't home for him anymore.

It hadn't been for awhile after he'd joined Blackwatch, it had become his real home with the people that cared for him as much as did for them.

He thought back to Ana and Reinhardt, and how he'd left them. Jesse hoped that they'd forgive him.

He'd written a note thanking them for dealing with him, but he needed to leave after seeing the destruction the last time. The fact he'd lost everything finally hit him all at once that night. He couldn't be around any of it anymore. 

Ana had told him the same thing many times over the weeks after the explosion: _Time heals all wounds_. 

But he’d found out some heal much, much slower than others, and Jesse believed these two might never heal.

Jesse still missed waking up with them. Their morning smiles, their gentle touches and kisses. And every damn night he missed their rough hands and affection.

Sometimes when he jerked off, he’d try imagining his hand was one of there's, but it never felt right unless he was drunk as hell, but then whiskey dick would end up ruining those nights.

He even tried hooking up with people at the bars he'd drift through during his travels, usually trying to pick someone out that vaguely resembled Jack or Gabriel and telling himself it was them.

But it never worked.

He always left before they even got naked.

Jesse hadn't really talked to many people since losing his husbands. Outside of transactional interactions for drink, food, or cigars, he didn't care to talk much anymore.

He'd wandered from Switzerland to Spain, then hitched a ride to the US and started going from the East coast to the West, just looking for something, _anything_ , to keep him busy. He'd been called an Outlaw a time or two and it had begun to stuck. The rumour of his sharpshooting travelling faster than he could.

Sometimes mercs or hired guns looking to collect on his bounty would try to get the drop on him, but he always stumbled away from the fights, bruised, beaten, and alive. His Deadeye never let him down.

He'd never find the courage to voice it, but the only thing that had kept him from giving up over the years was the smallest sliver of hope that his husbands were alive.

Somewhere.

Looking for him.

Tearing up some, he realised Jack and Gabriel _had_ been looking for him. The whole damn time. He was just too damn drunk and depressed to pay attention to anything else but nursing a bottle and his wounded heart.

Deep inside he felt some part of himself come alive with the prospect of Jack and Gabriel being alive and back in his life.

* * *

"Reyes, you can drop the act. We're inside." Jack locked the door behind himself and was pulling his visor off, watching as the Wraith finished slithering in over the window ledge and started creating the shape of his body. "You don't have to go through the damn window, we have a door."

"You're no fun, old man." Dissolving the black coat and armour away, he stood behind Morrison and crossed his arms, puffing out his chest, fully nude minus his mask.

Struggling for a second to get his leather jacket off, Jack turned around. “What about this?" Reaching out, he grabbed the mask, but Reaper's clawed hand landed on his and held it in place.

"Let me keep it on a little longer…" he gently squeezed the warm hand, "Please."

Pulling his hand back, Soldier nodded. He went back to stripping, trying to dust the desert sand out of the places it shouldn't be. "You know I love you no matter what your pretty face looks like, Gabe."

"You might. But I don't." Reyes had turned around and formed a skin-tight t-shirt and equally tight shorts, moving the hotplate to get Jack's meal ready. "You're this old and still eat like we're in the Crisis. How did you not starve without me."

"Cup noodles and canned food aren't _that_ bad, Gabe."

"Says you."

Jack was leaning back in a chair, appreciating the view of Gabe's ass in the too tight short shorts, the length just shy of covering the bottom curve of his plump ass. "Was all I could find."

"I know that's a lie." Gabriel was mixing together some of the canned goods they'd found in the old Overwatch safehouse. He used to do this for their squad to try and make them something not _as_ depressing as the disgusting MREs they were given. A soup was coming together, but it all looked mushy and the thought of eating it honestly turned his stomach. He didn’t know how Jack could stand it. "It's almost ready."

"You think this'll work? Us chasing after him when Sombra can find him?"

Reyes focused on finishing the meal, finally dissolving the mask as he turned to look at Jack with his few extra eyes. "I hope so. We've been chasing him this long. He has to notice at some point… _right_?"

Jack was stirring the pot he’d been given, grabbing some stale crackers he'd found in the cabinets to give it some sort of texture, he shoved a spoonful in his mouth and said, " _Well…_ "

"I do _not_ want to see that. Swallow first."

Making a scene of it, he swallowed and chuckled as he ground out, “You know I always do.”

Gabriel didn't get to hear Jack's laugh all that often now, so it was nice to hear it when he got to. "But, I'm being serious, Morrison. Do you think he'll stop running? Sombra hasn't been able to even get a message back from him. But now Talon will be hunting him, and he needs to know."

“We’ll get him back, Reyes. And Jesse knows how to defend himself, you trained him after all.”

Nodding, Gabriel reached over and took Jack's free hand, a thin tendril wrapping its way up his arm, rubbing against his inner forearm. 

"It's risky Gabe, but we can handle Talon together. I’m just worried about him getting caught off guard, but we’re getting him back. I promise."

“I _know_ we will, Jack.”

They sat in silence, Morrison’s slurping and soft crunching filled it until he cleared his throat. "I've missed him too Gabe, so damn much." In the corner, one of their tablets chimed. He watched as Gabriel dissolved into black smoke and ghosted across the room to grab the tablet. Jack watched Reyes’ face, concern growing as his jaw went slack. "Hey, what's wrong?"

The numerous blood red and black eyes locked onto his, before a raspy whisper escaped Gabriel’s mouth. "Sombra said she's found him again. At a little hole-in-the-wall bar. It's just a day away. In Dorado."

Jack froze, taking in the new information. Looking at Gabriel, he calmly asked, "So, are we going now?"

"She told him to stay there. Got him a room." Reyes' eyes were glowing bright and intensely. "She told him we've been following him. So hell yeah, we're going." Gabriel dropped the tablet on the table and rushed to their cot. He started packing their duffles, hurriedly throwing everything into them. "Finish eating Morrison. We're going."

"Slow down, you said she got him a room." Jack kept eating, watching his husband shove stuff into their two small bags. "We can go tomorrow."

Gabriel spun around, glaring at Jack. "We haven't got to see him since… since…" He shook his head, voice dropping as sadness creeped into it. "I need to… We have to go see him."

"He'll be there." Jack was almost finished with his soup. "We can rest up before seeing him. I'm tired." Getting up, knees and back popping, he stood at the sink. Squeezing the hot water knob in his hand, he whispered, "I have to apologise to him. If I had known it was going to be the last time…"

"You were confused. Had a concussion. Jackie, he'll under—"

"No! He thought we were _dead_. I watched him turn around and walk away. And I said nothing! _Did_ nothing! I just let him go. We could be with him _right now_. All I had to do was _say something_!" Slamming the spoon down into the sink, he turned around, pointing at himself. "I did this to us Gabriel!"

Reyes saw the anger in Morrison’s eyes, the pure anger. He walked over slowly, opening his arms. "Come here," He pulled Jack close, holding him in a tight hug and pressing a kiss to his greying temple. "You didn't do this. You didn't know he'd vanish like he did."

"I was scared. I don’t think I even knew _who_ he was. I was stuck back in the Crisis. Waiting for your orders. Knew you'd have a plan to get us out alive. But you didn't show up for days. I thought I’d left you there alone too…"

Nodding, Gabriel just listened as he rambled on for a bit, slowly walking them towards the cot. "Shhh Jack, stop trying to blame yourself. I started this whole fucking thing. If anyone's to blame, it's me." He reached behind him and moved their bags to the floor. Pulling Jack down with him, he held him tight. "I triggered the bomb, Morrison. _I_ did this to us. But he's close. We've almost got him back. In the morning we can steal a bike and go get him."

He nodded against Reyes' chest, "What if…"

" _Stop_. No 'what if's. I'm not letting you drink away the night over this. Go to sleep. We'll see him soon. Okay?" Gabriel watched Jack nod. He held him tight, waiting for him to go to sleep on his chest. As if on command, a soft snore vibrated Jack. Still feeling the nerves build, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep too. But he was haunted by the years he was alone and angry. Desperately trying to get revenge.

Or something like it.

He wasn't sure really.

Anger was all he had then. Anger at Talon. Anger at himself for what had happened.

Anger for what he'd lost.

His condition only worsened after the explosion. A stable, human form was nearly impossible to maintain for more than a few minutes. His body rotted away faster, and he suffered waves of excruciating pain before dissolving into smoke. The first time he saw his reflection, he hated what he’d become. Half of his jaw was missing, an eye socket and the flesh around it was a rotting, black hole. He constantly had extra eyes. Mouths kept growing and closing. Sometimes parts of his body would just break down without warning. He spent more time in the limbo of his wraith state than he could flesh and bone.

He needed help. And Talon knew it.

Moira promised him a fix, a _cure_ , for his current state. He'd never be fully human again, but she said she would help him get back to how he was before.

She just needed him to help Talon. So, begrudgingly, he was sent out into the field. He killed people without remorse. Worked alongside the now frigid, heartless murderer of his close friend. Every dead enemy of Talon was one step closer to his cure. He'd become a terrorist for them, bringing discord and unrest anywhere he went, and he'd started going down a stolen list of ex-Overwatch agents, hunting down those that had betrayed them to Talon.

Talon had allowed him to become the monster he always knew he'd end up being. Murder in cold blood didn't phase him anymore. He didn't care about the people and families left behind. He only wanted revenge for what had been stolen from him.

But a cure never came. She'd call him to her labs at Talon and Oasis. Run a test or two, take some notes, and then dismiss him, promising more 'the next time'.

His final straw was being told to kill Soldier: 76. When he saw the dossier, he knew it had to be Morrison. Only he would use his SEP code number for his new identity.

Akande gave him the order to kill the vigilante. Promising him what he needed if he would rid Talon of the nuisance.

He knew if he had a body it'd be numb, but he begrudgingly agreed. His mind went into overdrive, immediately crafting a plan to fake it. Make it seem like he tried and the old Soldier was just better than him.

Sombra met him that night in his room. She’d already begun working on how to get Reaper and 76 to meet, but this wasn’t what she wanted.

* * *

Jesse woke up to some loud music blasting outside, which, after a few seconds, seemed out of place in the tiny desert town.

Rolling out of bed, he realised he was still fully dressed when his spurs hit the floor and rolled, almost making him fall as he grabbed the bed to keep his footing. The tequila bottle on the nightstand was knocked over and empty. His eyes felt puffy and sore. Letting out a heavy sigh, he said, "Dammit."

His mouth felt stuffed with cotton and he tasted a slight hint of iron when he licked his cracked lips. His head was throbbing to the beat of the music. The sunlight coming in through the cheap sheer curtain was an endless assault on his eyes.

"It's too early for this shit."

Stumbling into the bathroom, his body was on autopilot. Reflexes feeling for the light switch, then turning on the sink. Drinking a few handfuls of water, he stared at the ceiling and rubbed his temples. His stomach rolled and then growled loudly. Looking back into the room, he felt something was off.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up.

He was being watched.

Stepping out of the bathroom carefully, he tiptoed over and got Peacekeeper off the nightstand, sliding the revolver into her holster and strapping it on his waist. Standing still and slowly looking around, he noticed the music had gotten louder or closer, the loud bass felt like a jackhammer on his skull. Or his hangover was somehow getting worse.

The room’s key was where he remembered leaving it, hanging on the back of the door.

The comm Sombra had given him was still on the dresser where he'd left it. Palming it, he shoved it into his pocket before turning the muted screen off on the wall above it.

Walking to the door, he reached down and pulled Peacekeeper out of her holster, thumb sliding up the curve of the grip to rest on the hammer. Grabbing the door handle, he twisted, cocking the hammer back at the same time, trying to cover the click.

Swinging the door open he looked out into an empty hallway. Stepping out and looking both ways, he didn't see further down the hall by the other rooms, so he headed towards the bar, pausing after a few steps when he heard muffled movement in the bar.

A bullet barely missed his head as glass rained down onto the floor around him. Eyes going wide he dropped to the floor as another shot came through the window and missed. "Well, _shit_!"

Crouching, he started moving down the hall. Every few heartbeats another bullet would come through the wall or window and barely miss him, the sniper getting closer with each shot. After a few more missed, one hit him in the middle of his thigh. He dropped down and cursed, reaching back to try and keep pressure on the wound as he crawled forward on his stomach, hissing through his teeth, "God _dammit_! That hurt!"

Shimmying on the floor into the bar, he surveyed the room and realised everyone inside was dead. The glass from the windows facing the street was all over the floor, some catching on his shirt and digging into his hand and forearm. The barkeep was bent over the bar, a bullet hole in the side of his head. The few early patrons were dead, a few shot in their chests and the others were laying on or by their tables as if they'd tried to flee, glasses still half full and coated with condensation.

These kills were recent.

Right then he noticed the silence in the place. The music had been turned off. His head was pounding in sync with his heart now, but the silence was a nice respite. He looked around at the bodies, trying to find where the sniper was.

Had to be across the street. 

Reyes’ voice echoed in his head: _Obviously_.

On top of something high, based on the downward angle in the hallway.

Reyes again: _No shit McCree. Think of where we would’ve put one._

He started trying to remember the buildings across the way. Shifting, he dragged his leg behind him to a broken window. Reaching down he grabbed a large piece of the tinted glass and held it up, angling it to use the reflection to look around. There were a few little stores, a hover-bike shop, and a bank.

The sun was moving behind the buildings, making it hard to see any scope reflection if they were watching for him. But he knew they would see the bright flash of the sun on the glass. On top of the bank a few shadows shifted and he knew what was coming. Dropping the glass piece, he rolled over to the side as a bullet pierced through the wall where he just was.

Muffled voices were outside, then a loud radio crackling. "He's in there! Go! Go!"

Heavy boots could be heard stomping towards the bar from both directions. He only had six shots. And there were _definitely_ more than six people outside.

He needed somewhere to defend himself. He wouldn't be getting away with his leg like this. Looking at the hallway, he knew they'd at least have to funnel down it towards him.

If the sniper didn't get a good shot off on him, that is.

Getting on his hands and knees, he shuffled fast back towards his room, shattered glass stabbing into his palm. Getting a few rooms down the hall, and not by a window, his mind shifted to the bullet wound. Grabbing the bandana in his back pocket, he wrapped it around his leg a little above the wound, tying it tight to try and slow the blood loss.

He waited with a baited breath as the squad of goons burst through the batwing doors and surveyed the main room before moving towards the hallway. Reaching up he tipped his hat with a wink when they looked at him.

"Howdy! Take it y'all're lookin' fer me? Who sent ya?"

They stared at him for a second, clearly surprised at the state he was in. Their radios crackled for a second before they started scoping him in.

There were eight of them here, and he had no idea how many were outside.

He looked over their gear. Black and red colours. Thick armour on the chests and legs, thermal sights, and heavy boots. Some of them had full helmets on, others were just wearing a small visor over their eyes. On the shoulder of one he saw a familiar logo.

Talon.

Shit.

"Well then, y'all are mighty rude. Come to kill me and won't even say who sent ya, or why." Tutting at them, McCree followed with, "Hope yer trigger fingers are faster 'an mine."

Jesse pulled the trigger on Peacekeeper before they could get a shot off, both hands moving in a blur as the closest three crumpled and dropped like sacks of rocks as the rest dived for cover. Three down. And he only had who knows how many more to kill. 

At least he'd go out fighting.

Jesse just wished he'd been able to see his husbands before this. He'd make them proud.

When one Talon trooper peaked out for a shot, he got him right between the eyes and watched as he fell over dead. Waiting for the other goons to lean out, he noticed a shadow in the doorway behind them, then a black shotgun pressed against the head of one of them by the doors. The next second the trigger was pulled and black smoke rushed after the body to the floor, followed by a larger mass of inky black rushing into the place and surprising the remaining gunmen. A muffled voice yelled over the radio from one of the dead men's headset, "Reaper is here! Take him out! Repeat. Reaper! Is! Here! Take him out!"

"Can't kill what's already dead!" The black smoke figure started laughing maniacally as it spread across the room. 

So this was Reaper.

Tendrils of black worked up their legs and grabbed their arms, pulling the armed men down onto the ground and holding them still. They struggled against the bonds, panic filling their desperate attempts.

The black figure was standing over the second one closest to the door now. A shotgun formed in a clawed hand and then the trigger was pulled.

"You attacked us."

The figure floated over to stand above the next. Shotgun appearing again, then another trigger pull.

" _Then_ tried to kill him."

Moving to the next one, Jesse saw the owl-like mask. He felt… relief knowing Gabriel was under there, and that meant Jack had to be close by somewhere.

"I thought you'd get the message by now."

Standing over the one closest to Jesse now, Reaper looked over at McCree before looking back down, shotgun coming into existence.

"I don't work for you anymore."

He pulled the trigger.

Jesse kept staring as the bodies started to shrivel, the little bits of visible skin turning grey and black. Wrinkling and drying out like a body dead long ago. He realised Reaper was talking to him when the figure bent down on a knee in front of him.

"...okay McCree?"

A clawed finger pressed against his chin and held his gaze.

"Can you hear me?"

He nodded, and then a clawed hand slowly reached to touch around the blood soaked bandana, making him jump back. "Shot. Been shot. Where's the sniper?"

"I can tell you've been shot. How bad is it? C’mon McCree, talk to me…"

There was a soft squeak of leather, and then a set of heavy footsteps on the wooden floor. "Sniper's dead. You can get up, Jess."

McCree looked over at the other man. The sunlight pouring in through the shattered windows was like angelic spotlight on the soldier's profile. Leather gloves reached up and pulled the visor off. When he saw the blue eyes look down at him and a small smile spread on those scared lips, he teared up. 

"Y'all can't be real. This is it huh… I'm fuckin' losing it." He crawled back and leaned against the wall, flinching as his shot leg flared with pain. "Guess I'm bleedin' out and you two are the last thing I'm seein'… I guess this ain't too bad." He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, he was so sapped of energy. Struggling to open his eyes, he saw his two husbands were closer, crouching down in front of him, their mouths moving and saying something he couldn’t focus on.

He was tired. 

Blinking a few times to clear the hallucinations that wouldn't go away, Jesse couldn’t lift his eyelids again. He thought he heard footsteps coming closer, but he didn’t have the strength to look.

He just needed to rest his eyes, for a just a minute.


	2. Wake Up Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is gonna be short. I really wanted to update this, but had been having trouble with the pacing of what I'd written for this Chapter originally. This beginning part started really feeling good as a stopping point before the rest of the chapter, so I decided to do that. 
> 
> I do hope y'all like this little thing tho.

Cracking his eyes open, McCree stared at the ceiling. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but his head was hurting something fierce.

In the distance he thought he heard a voice, it sounded like someone was talking in another room. He couldn't hear what was being said, the voice was too far away.

Blinking a few times, he looked around, but didn't see either of the hallucinations from earlier

He was alone.

Sighing, he laid back down, and then he realised he was in a bed. Not the hallway.

"How the hell…"

On the edge of his vision to his right, he thought he saw a shadow move.

"He's awake, Morrison!"

Jesse snapped his neck to look at where the voice came from. Reaper was watching from the corner, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall. He had a weird black aura, glowing, blood red eyes staring directly at him. 

"Am I dead?"

From the corner the ghost chuckled, then quietly replied, "No Vaquero, you're not dead yet. Though you might wish you were soon."

The door to the room burst open and Morrison barged in carrying a metal ice tub from the bar. He dropped it beside the bed and then dragged the chair from the corner close to Jesse's shot leg.

"Good to see you awake McCree. But I need you to listen to me."

Heart racing he sat up in the bed and looked at him, "Why? What're ya doin' Jack?"

"I need to get that bullet out of your leg, McCree. Take off the jeans."

"Wait—”

"Don't make me cut them off you."

"Okay, okay…" McCree nodded, fumbling with his belt as he got them undone. Jack pulled them off and dropped them on the floor. Mumbling to himself, Jack rolled his leg over to inspect it. Trying to pull his leg back, McCree felt a leather gloved hand grip his calf hard, trying to hold his leg in place.

"If you don't stop moving…"

The grip got painful for a second as the other hand gripped his thigh and held his leg straight out.

" _Stay. Still.”_

The hands left him and then the sound of a bottle opening filled the room. The next second something was being poured into the bullet hole in his thigh, setting his leg on fire from the inside. Jerking his leg and trying to climb out of bed, he cried out, "What tha FUCK!"

"Dammit! Hold him down, Reyes."

The man in the corner pushed off the wall and floated over in a rush, clawed hands shifting as he got close. McCree felt the second pair of hands grab his leg tight, and then something else wrapped around his thigh and calf like a thick rope, stretching his leg out straight in the bed. " _Now_ yer Reyes? What happened to being Reaper?"

"Morrison. Can't we just… knock him out?"

A heavy sigh and then the gravelly voice answered, "No. We need him awake so we can get moving. Already spent too long here."

" _Fine._ I love you McCree, I do, but please _try_ and stay quiet."

"Wait!" Jesse looked at both of the men, eyes wild with panic, trying to get out of bed. "Y’all’re real? This isn’t a dream?"

A hand in the centre of his chest shoved him back down onto his back. " _No_. Now, stay. Down. And bite on this." A gloved hand put a leather strap in his mouth. It was warm. Smelled and tasted like sweat. His noises of disgust were muffled. "This is going to hurt. Sorry." 

The gloved hand patted his leg gently, then poured more of whatever the liquid fire was in his leg. There was cool metal touching him, then something stretching the wound open. Biting down hard on the strap, he felt something else push into the hole and start poking around.

He knew the bullet was found when a sharp pain shot up his thigh making him bite down hard and cry out around the belt.

Reaper gripped his leg harder, the rest of his body jerking. "McCree. Try _not_ to move. That's going to make it worse. Trust me." He felt something else being shoved into the wound and then the tendrils locked _painfully_ tight around his leg, holding it down.

Jesse spit the belt out of his mouth when whatever was inside his wound grabbed the bullet and pulled, sending a bolt of pain through his body, "FUCKIN' HELL THAT HURTS!"

Morrison chuckled as the shiny metal of the bullet came into view. "It was deeper than I thought." Pulling it out, he dropped it on the bed and grabbed the bottle of vodka he'd taken from the bar. "This is going to burn more." He lined it up and poured the alcohol in, letting it overflow out of the hole until it was mostly clear.

Hands grasping in the sheets, Jesse screamed bloody murder, begging for him to stop.

"It'll be over soon." Reaching down to grab one of his ankle knives, Jack grabbed the sheet and cut off a few long strips. Soaking the middle of one, he lined it up with the hole and motioned for the leg to be lifted. Reaching around to tie it, he wrapped the other strips around the leg and tied them tight. "Okay, let go. Just be gentle with it."

Rolling over, McCree hissed through clenched teeth and pointed at Morrison's belt. "Why tha fuck, don't ya just use one of those damned healing fields."

Reaper shrugged and answered, "They're dead." He stepped back some as Jesse moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"How!"

Morrison had moved to the bathroom, cleaning his tools off in the sink. "We were ambushed a little before we got into town. Had to use them. When they're ready I'll tell you."

Jesse was sitting on the edge of the bed watching them both.

The silence was getting loud. They were all avoiding some variation of the same question they all knew Jesse was going to ask.

So McCree cleared his throat and asked it.

"How long have y'all… been together?"

Coming back into the room, Jack looked at McCree. When he reached out to touch his shoulder, the man leaned away reflexively before leaning back into the touch. "Not too long. I’d been looking for you both, but _he_ wasn’t exactly trying to _hide_ what he was doing. So I started going after him and found Ana. She stuck with me for a time, until we had a run in with Reaper." Jack sighed and looked over his shoulder at Gabriel, "Never thought I'd be hunted down by my husband, but the three of us had a _lovely_ reunion fight. And then he shot me in the back." He looked back at Jesse. "The asshole."

"What the—!?"

Gabriel cleared his throat loudly, interrupting Jesse, " _After_ that me and him started looking for you, Jess. Sombra helped us with that." He'd been looking at Jesse's hand. "Your ring. Did you… lose it?"

"Hell no!” Jesse reached into his shirt and pulled out the chain with his dogtag and ring. "Nearly killed a man who tried to pilfer it off me. Been wearing it on here ever since."

Reaper nodded and reached into his chest armour, pulling his chain out. "Mine too."

McCree smiled at him, then furrowed his brows, "What's with the getup? Wanna see ya without all that."

Jack cleared his throat. "Give him some time McCree. Ever since the explosion it's been… rough for him."

Reaching up, Gabriel covered his face with his hand, then dissolved the mask, his extra eyes looking around erratically as he stared at McCree and brought his hand down, showing his rotted out jaw. "He's trying to be nice. I'm more fucked up now than before. A real _winner_."

" _Gabriel_ , come here." McCree stood and limped towards Reyes, arms open wide. He fell on the last step, the man catching him and keeping him upright. He looked over at the other. "You too, Jack."

When Morrison joined the hug, he breathed in deep, trying to remember what it was like being the three of them. Their hugs like this back at HQ after missions and trips.

"It's been too damn long." McCree had started crying. He didn't even notice it until a cool hand tilted his head back and a claw ran under his eye, wiping a few tears away.

Reyes' clawed hands cupped his cheeks as he leaned in for a kiss, making it soft and short. When Gabriel pulled away he held Jesse's chin, staring into his eyes, "Yeah, it has been."

Jack grabbed Jesse's face next, turning him to the side for a simple and sweet kiss, "We missed you, Jess, so damn much."

"I missed y'all too." McCree stepped back, left leg jerking from the pain of standing on it. He grinned, grabbing the bottle of vodka off the bed and gulping down the last few swallows left and tossing it on the bed. "So, y'all wanna get out of here before more show up?"

Reyes grinned and shrugged, "What's the rush? I think we could take them."

Morrison grunted and turned around, rolling his shoulders as he walked towards the door. "I'll go get us some hovercycles. Get packed and meet at the shop across the street. We're leaving in ten."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be longer and have more of them. I've just been obsessed [with my CamAU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29453727/chapters/72349848) and had been working on it (if you click it I hope you like it)!!
> 
> Sorry for the long wait on this, just know that it is being worked on!!


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